Marubeni Buys Out STX’s Stake in A$10 Billion Rinehart Mine

July 18 (Bloomberg) -- Marubeni Corp., Japan’s biggest
power and agricultural products trading company, said it bought
the 2.5 percent of Australia’s Roy Hill iron ore project held by
South Korea’s STX Corp.

The purchase raises the Japanese trader’s stake in the A$10
billion ($9.17 billion) project led by Australian billionaire
Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting Pty to 15 percent, a Tokyo-based Marubeni spokeswoman said by phone, declining to be named
in line with corporate policy.

Marubeni said in March last year it agreed to pay A$1.5
billion for 12.5 percent of Roy Hill in its first foray into
iron ore mining in 30 years. STX spent A$300 million on its 2.5
percent stake, the company said at the same time, while South
Korean steel producer Posco bought 15 percent.

Hancock Prospecting, which owns the remaining 70 percent of
the project, plans to produce 55 million metric tons a year at
Roy Hill over 28 years.

The project in the Pilbara region, due to start in 2014,
has “unbelievable” break-even costs and would be an exception
to Marubeni’s strategy of slowing investment in Australian
resources, Chairman Teruo Asada said in an interview July 16.

STX agreed to sell its entire stake in Roy Hill, according
to a regulatory filing on June 28.